Rating and Reactions: Villa 2 (3) - 1 (4) Bradford

[Harry]

Well the script never changes does it.

We apply loads of pressure and have loads of possession and we only manage to score one or in some cases none. The second half starts, the opposition take the game to us, we defend deeper and deeper, we concede a goal or two, our heads go down and we spend the final ten minutes desperately trying to score.

I lost a huge amount of respect for Lambert tonight. In the second half the tactics were wrong, the formation was wrong, the substitutions were wrong, we wereway too narrow and ending up with four out and out strikers and no midfield was the stuff of playground football.

Lawro said something tonight on the radio when I was driving home that I actually agreed with which was Lambert has over the course of the season been let down by his senior players: Gabby, Ireland and N'Zogbia. Injuries have not helped IMO as well but fundamentally that's a big part of the problem. But having said that tonight was a car crash and there is simply no excuse. Players can have bad days and seemingly many of ours have lots of bad days but the root cause is what our manager is telling them to do. I rate Lambert but am rapidly losing faith. He seems completely out of his depth.

Was I the only one who left his flag at VP in disgust?

Edited January 22, 2013 by Harry

[AVFCforever1991]

What did Lambert say?

[flashingqwerty]

thought i'd do a full reflection:

Given - 4 - might have done more on the corner they scored from, very poor distribution, captain? what captain?

Bennet - 6 - gets a 6 purely because he setup the 1st. Gave the ball away, got caught in possession every other minute and conceded the corner that led to their goal when he could have and should have done better.

Lowton - 3 - shocking performance, awful in defence, passing was abysmal, got into good positions but every delivery was to a bradford player, very poor

Vlaar - 4 - looks like a man rushed back from injury too soon, barely able to move about the pitch and lost his man for the goal

Clarke - 4- wasnt really aware he was playing until about the 80th minute when he popped up on the left wing and put in a cross so bad i thought it was marc albrighton

nzog - 7- looked decent in the first half but disappeared as he always does in the second

ireland - 4 - shocking, only passes he made successfully were less than 5 yards, i'd expect more from a player of his ability

bannan - 3 - not good enough for professional football - everyting he did, he did wrong

Delph - 7 - possibly his best game for us, tried very hard and put himself about, pity he lack any real ability

Benteke - 6 - yeah he's a good player, but he doesnt work hard enough and isnt clinical enough yet. too big for his boots and should have had a hattrick tonioght had be put a bit more effort in and focused on doing his job

Gabby - 6 - i think he ran himself ragged tonight despite ppl saying he looked like he cdnt be bothered, it wasnt up front we were losing posession and playing backward passes after all

Subs

weiman - 7 - scored the only chance he got and started some nice attacks

Bent - 5 - offered absolutly nothing, he needs to get out of his club if he ever hopes to play for england again and good riddance when he does - LAZY!

Manager & STaff:

0 - what on earth did they say at half time? what on earth did they do to the formation? what kind of subs were they to make? What on earth were thse tactics about? Utter utter dross!

Post match interview is very interesting:

"will you be bring in new signings..."

"well ive spoken to the chairman and hes aware of the situation - its not the right time to answer that/..."

Does that mean theres no money? does it mean hes been sacked? has he offered his resignation and doesnt know if its been accepted yet? Very Interesting!!

[Brumstopdogs]

First time I've said it but Lambert out.

[NulliSecundus]

To all people who thought we were going to walk this.... you are all words removed. Goodnight.

[villarule123]

Any Bradford fans want my Wembley travelodge room?

[JackAVFC1993]

Get out of our club Get out of our club you Scottish Bastard get out of our club. Feel sorry for all you guys that wasted money booked time off work for this bunch of words removed. I aint going again while hes boss **** paying to watch this shite.

[YerMa]

_{Given - pants from corners like the rest of our side, didnt have a lot else to do - 5}

_{Lowton - Flattered to deceive once again, many wasteful crosses - 5}

_{Vlaar - His one mistake was crucial unfortunately, otherwise ok - 6}

_{Clark - Not good enough - 4}

_{Bennett - Hines had him in his pocket again, looked better going forward, but its a defender we need first and foremost - 5}

_{N'Zogbia - Tired badly and stopped running second half - 6}

_{Ireland - Looked ok first half , then went missing again - 4}

_{Bannan - Pointless player for us - 3}

_{Delph - Worked tirelessly but not good enough (and that feigned pass thing he does every time he getys the ball is getting on my tits) - 4}

_{Agbonlahor - Not at the races tonight - 4}

_{Benteke - Our best player and someones elses best player next year - 7}

_Subs

_{Weimann - Love this guys attitude and endeavour, good finish - 8}

_{Bent - Non existent, doesnt look too bothered either - 2}

_{Well done Bradford, well deserved now hopefully they can go on and win the thing.}

_{Villa - inept, clueless, lazy, uninspired, awful.. I could go on but theres not enough words in the english language to describe my thoughts on this once great club.}

_{The fish rots from the head - Lerner out, Faulkner out and my first time saying this Lambert out.}

_{We are going down but lets hope it can reshape the club in the process with a whole new board, coaching staff etc.}

_{Sad night, sad 3 years preceeding it}

Edited January 22, 2013 by YerMa

[drewdat]

You might as well. If they throw any back they won't **** hit you anyway.

Stick to the corners and you should be golden.

[NulliSecundus]

Was I the only one who left his flag at VP in disgust?

I took mine in the hope I could sell it to a Bradford fan as a souvenir.

[harris21]

Stick to the corners and you should be golden.

LMFAOOOO

[mikeyp102]

Second half was one of the worst I have ever seen!! No passion, no fight, no ideas.. Play 4 strikers, 3 of whom stood 2 ft apart.. Absolute joke... And as for conceding corners what the hell... This must be the worst villa side I have ever seen.

[villarule123]

As for the flags, you can stick them up your arse.

Some poor cleaner has got a job on their hands cleaning them up

[CI]

Recently got home from B6, cold, tired, hungry and £65 lighter in the pocket for that shite.

Do the players care ?

What sort of formation was that FFS no plan, no tactics, no width. Complete bollocks.

Not going to be able to sleep for a while.

Good luck to bradford and their fans they were magnificent.

[vivahate]

One of the most depressing nights I've ever had at Villa Park.

[TRO]

Dean Saunders's face was like thunder on sky after the game, but football people do tend to circle the wagons and defend each other.

Of course a manager can't go on the pitch and do it for them, but hey

You don't expect a manager to come in and win trophies in 5 minutes, but you do expect a professional approach to the basics and see a " work in progress" approach to our faults.

Oh dear its a **** mess.

[TRO]

How can everyone and his dog, say we have too many kids in yet the manager denys it and plods on regardless.

not acceptable.

[StefanAVFC]

The only good thing about tonight was the snow ball fight at Aston station.

The woman who got angry and was complaining about children getting hit was the highlight.

[TRO]

_{Given - pants from corners like the rest of our side, didnt have a lot else to do - 5}

_{Lowton - Flattered to deceive once again, many wasteful crosses - 5}

_{Vlaar - His one mistake was crucial unfortunately, otherwise ok - 6}

_{Clark - Not good enough - 4}

_{Bennett - Hines had him in his pocket again, looked better going forward, but its a defender we need first and foremost - 5}

_{N'Zogbia - Tired badly and stopped running second half - 6}

_{Ireland - Looked ok first half , then went missing again - 4}

_{Bannan - Pointless player for us - 3}

_{Delph - Worked tirelessly but not good enough (and that feigned pass thing he does every time he getys the ball is getting on my tits) - 4}

_{Agbonlahor - Not at the races tonight - 4}

_{Benteke - Our best player and someones elses best player next year - 7}

_Subs

_{Weimann - Love this guys attitude and endeavour, good finish - 8}

_{Bent - Non existent, doesnt look too bothered either - 2}

_{Well done Bradford, well deserved now hopefully they can go on and win the thing.}

_{Villa - inept, clueless, lazy, uninspired, awful.. I could go on but theres not enough words in the english language to describe my thoughts on this once great club.}

_{The fish rots from the head - Lerner out, Faulkner out and my first time saying this Lambert out.}

_{We are going down but lets hope it can reshape the club in the process with a whole new board, coaching staff etc.}

_{Sad night, sad 3 years preceeding it}

Gabby 1 goal in seventeen games ...is that right?

[AvfcTheObsession]

Second half was utterly embarrasing. Who on earth would have thought they were 3 divisions between us and them? Totally devoid of any quality, so many players I never want to see in a Villa shirt again, Ireland and Bannan for starters. I'm even beginning to think Darren Bent's a waste of time and we should flog him for the 8-10 mill we could get and use his 80k a week elsewhere.

Lambert's tactics second half contributed massively, no doubt. What sort of plan was that? Just get as many strikers as you possibly can on the pitch, but there won't be any width or anyone in midfield to provide them with any service.

I actually thought our defence was going to improve with Vlaar coming back, but again we concede from a corner, not to mention them hitting the bar and missing an open goal.

Could be worse I thought, as I waited for the train and one guy said he had to get back to Devon. Then I got on the train and just for discussing how shit we are/were tonight with my mate, end up getting in an argument with two gobby Villa fans who wanted to have the 'better fan' argument, bore off tossers.